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| ACA #2019-006 |
Yesterday we took our first survey flight over an emperor penguin colony! The
sunny skies and (relatively) low winds were perfect for helicopter
flight. From McMurdo, we flew past Mt. Erubus, along the coast to Cape
Crozier.
Cape Crozier is famous for a few reasons. First, it is home to a massive Adélie penguin colony that continues to be studied extensively (check out
www.penguinscience.org for more info on that). Second, it is a historic site that was initially landed by humans in 1902 during Captain Scott’s Discovery expedition. Third, and most importantly for our project, it is home to one of the southernmost emperor penguin colony in the world!
Weirdly, the colony itself is wedged in the fast ice within a massive crack in the ice shelf. This is a bit unusual for emperor penguins – most are located on relatively flat swaths of sea ice. Yet, from a distance we could see the unmistakable signature of an emperor colony: the darkened patch of guano left by hundreds of penguins, sharply contrasted against the pristine white ice.
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| The two black spots are the colony. ACA #2019-006 |
We took several passes in the helicopter at a safe distance, carefully photographing the colony from every angle.
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| ACA #2019-006 |
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| You can see the tiny chicks, black and white on this image! ACA #2019-006 |
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| ACA #2019-006 |
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| ACA #2019-006 |
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| ACA #2019-006 |
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| ACA #2019-006 |
With hundreds of images saved, our next goal is to pick through the images and count every single bird!
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